Reading and Writing Strategies for the Secondary Science Classroom in a PLC at Work®. Daniel M. Argentar

be a challenge for a number of reasons. As discussed previously, we commonly hear “there isn’t time” as a primary roadblock. Consequently, the first step in the collaboration process takes place between literacy leaders and administration.

      Your past experiences with using immediate strategies to address students’ most critical literacy needs provide an opportunity to approach your administrators and create a long-term plan for schoolwide literacy. The following chapters provide information and examples of how to begin this process, but here are some starting points to consider when communicating with administration and when engaging with the following chapters in this book.

      ▶ Identify the immediate problem and show the evidence of the problem with data.

      ▶ Identify your ultimate goal for the students in your science classroom. Know what you want to change.

      ▶ Provide a list of strategies you have tried in your classroom setting. Identify the ways you and your team have worked to build change.

      ▶ Provide suggestions for resources or ideas that can help you and your team accomplish your goals and get your students to a more successful place. Collaborate with your administrators over how these goals can be accomplished with the right action steps and the right supports in place.

      Teachers must be committed to the challenging work of moving students’ literacy competencies in the right direction, and leadership must support and respect this collaboration. Responding to your school’s literacy needs cannot occur through an occasional meeting or a purchased program—everyone must be in on the collaboration and be open to their own education and professional growth.

      Having said that, we want to offer a few tips for literacy leaders engaged in this work. If you are the literacy leader in your school, consider yourself a host to other teaching teams. You want this team collaboration with you to be as positive as possible so everyone can be an effective participant. Often as a leader in literacy, you will need to serve as the glue that holds the pieces together. You will need to develop the agendas and send out the invites and the reminders. Your personal goal is to keep this team moving forward and committed to literacy-based strategies. Be authentic: you are not the person with all the answers—you really only have half the answer. The key to collaborating with science experts around literacy is to effectively connect the literacy strategies with the content. The credit for the good work that comes from the focused collaborative team goes to the committee as a whole, not the literacy leader.

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What additional questions or thoughts could you consider when approaching administrators about creating a schoolwide literacy program that can specifically assist in the science classroom?

Collaborative Meeting Logistics

      Based on our experiences, there are four simple logistical action steps you can take that will help ensure fluid and timely collaboration.